


Gifts

by soongtypeprincess



Series: Sophie [6]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Drama, Family Feels, M/M, Making Out, Multi, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 21:27:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2040840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soongtypeprincess/pseuds/soongtypeprincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophie has her fourth birthday party, and the Enterprise has two weeks remaining on its trek before reaching Earth and the Terran Council.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> Edited: 11/2015
> 
> I DO NOT OWN THE TNG CHARACTERS (EXCEPT SOPHIE!).

Geordi blinked his tired eyes as he yawned and stretched his arms over his body. He groaned loudly, arching his back against the mattress until he was satisfied with the number of pops that resounded in his joints. He then sighed as he reached over to his nightstand and clicked his VISOR over his eyes, and, as he turned over again, he found his husband propped onto his elbows and looking at him with wide eyes.

“Good morning, darling,” came a gentle whisper from the android, his golden skin a soft haze in the dim light of their bedroom.

Geordi stroked Data’s cheek with his thumb. “Hi,” he whispered back. “Sleep well?”

Data nodded. “My programming always allows me a good night’s rest so that my systems may—“

The engineer pulled him closer and pressed his lips against his. “It was just a customary morning greeting, honey.”

Data grinned again and crept closer to Geordi, putting his arm over his chest and kissing him deeper. He slowly reached under the sheet and pressed his long fingers against Geordi’s erection through the material of his underwear.

“Is this also a customary greeting?” the android asked against his husband’s lips.

Geordi emitted a satisfied moan. “You are quite the cheeky one this morning. Wait, Data? I thought you couldn’t be stimulated unless--”

“You always stimulate me, Geordi,” he moaned as he stroked harder, his fingers still treading over the silky material of his boxers. 

The kiss they shared became more demanding, and just as Data’s fingers hooked themselves over Geordi’s waistband, the doors to their bedroom swooshed open and they jumped off each other as Sophie began to shout, excitedly, “Daddy!” she cried. “Daddy! Today’s the day! Today’s the day!!” 

Her little legs tried their best to allow her access at the foot of the bed as she held her stuffed cat, Pickles, over her shoulder.

Geordi quickly rolled onto his stomach to hide his “morning greeting” as Data helped Sophie up onto the bed. She crawled between them and quickly gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

Data imitated Geordi’s position on the bed as his subroutines continued to power down, and Sophie lay on her back between them.

“What is today, little one?” Data asked with a smile.

“You know what day!” she giggled.

“Christmas?” Geordi asked.

Sophie shook her head. “No! Not Christmas!”

“Kot'baval?” Data added.

“Oh, I remember now!” Geordi exclaimed, making Sophie sit up with a wide smile and clutching Pickles tighter. “It’s Father’s Day!”

“Daddy!” Sophie groaned as she, too, rolled onto her stomach and hid her face in Data’s pillow, pouting.

Data knew this was a ruse so he lightly tickled the back of her neck, and she giggled and kicked. She looked up at him and he pinched her cheek. 

“Happy birthday, sweetheart.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Geordi sat at the bar in Ten Forward with his slice of purple cake and red punch and watched his daughter set her new doll that Dr. Crusher had given her into her lap. The doll neatly fell into the material of her pastel purple dress as she sat on the floor with two children from her class. 

Joseph was almost five years old and the son of one of his Engineering crew, Lt. Joann Le Mat. The children had been friends since they were infants. 

Melanie’s parents, after receiving apologies from Data and Sophie the day they had gotten into their scuffle, relented that morning to allow their daughter to attend, seeing as how the two girls had already forgiven one another.

The other parents, for reasons unknown to Sophie, but crystal clear to Geordi, had not allowed their children to attend.

All three of them giggled, Sophie’s braids bouncing off her cheeks as she opened her new deck of playing cards, a gift from Commander Riker. The backs of the cards were a bright red and were so new that the lights in the bar made them glitter as they flew from her tiny hands as she dealt five cards each of her friends.

Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Counselor Troi were sitting at a table nearest them and were watching in amusement.

“Hey,” Geordi said to Guinan as she joined him at the bar with her piece of cake. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Sophie—“

“Is a card shark?” she grinned before taking another bite of thick white icing.

Geordi huffed and shook his head. “I take her to one of our card games one night, when Data was on duty, and now she’s gambling.”

“Who says she’s gambling?” Guinan laughed.

Geordi pointed at the children and Guinan squinted toward them to realize that they were anteing up candy in the middle of their poker circle. 

“Ah…” she smiled. “She’s still having more fun than you are.”

He licked his lips and said, “I’m trying my best…but I can’t seem to focus. You know why.”

“Do I?” Guinan shrugged.

“Come on. You know! This damn hearing we’re going to. I just…I’m trying to keep my composure. Every time I think about this guy….” He stabbed at his cake with his fork and continued, “I’ve even had the thought, late at night, of…putting us in a shuttlecraft and just taking off somewhere.”

“You mean you would go AWOL?” Guinan asked, with a surprised expression as she set her plate on the bar. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this!”

“Well, I can’t help it,” Geordi tried to explain.

“Commander, where would go? You could get court-martialed. So could Data! And then, where would that leave Sophie?”

“She would be taken away from us, anyhow,” Geordi nodded. “I know, Guinan. I’ve run it over and over in my head a thousand times.” 

They were both silent as they watched the children continue their game, and Geordi twisted his bar stool to look at Data. He was talking with Wesley on the other side of the room as he looked at his daughter with a curiously raised eyebrow. He turned this same expression to Geordi, who quickly swiveled his bar stool away from his husband’s suspicious gaze.

“Is he still looking?” he asked Guinan.

Guinan looked to see Data approaching them with a steady stride. She shook her head. “Nope.” She patted his shoulder and proceeded to walk away to offer more cake to the guests.

“Geordi?” Data’s firm voice sounded behind him.

The engineer slowly turned to face him and was met with a stern glare. “Yes, sweetie?” he asked, innocently.

“Our daughter seems to be instigating a game of Five Card Draw in which she and the other children are staking their party favors.”

Geordi shrugged again. “Data, look. You were on Night Watch and I was off shift, and I couldn’t find a babysitter. I didn’t think there’d be any harm in—“

“Oh, but there has been,” Data scolded him. He looked at their daughter and, after taking a big gulp of punch, stated, “She is betting too high. She must learn that it is best to progress in her wagering as the game builds in momentum.”

Geordi laughed, his eyes shut tightly as he threw his head back. “Oh, God, baby…” he sighed as he stood up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. 

Troi looked over at them and smiled as Data sat next to his husband and placed his hand on his thigh.

It had been one week since the news from Starfleet was received, and the Enterprise was making its way to Earth where Sophie would face a Terran tribunal that would decide to which family she belonged. In the Terran system, where the man who had left Ariana La Forge long before Sophie had been born, was waiting? Or on the Enterprise, where she wouldn’t just reside with her mother’s brother and his husband, but with the entire crew who had grown to love her and would do anything to protect her and their officers?

“Penny for your thoughts, Counselor?” came Picard’s mellow timbre.

Troi turned her gaze away from the engineers and spooned at her chocolate ice cream that had started to melt into her cake. “I was just thinking about the deposition,” she replied, softly. “I guess…trying to imagine what would happen to them if…” 

She bit her lip as she put her spoon onto her plate. Riker quietly moved a tendril of dark hair away from her eyes, and she grinned at him.

The captain leaned toward both of them, his hands wrapping around his cup of punch. “Regardless of what we all dread, Deanna,” he muttered, “We must all remain positive. They all three need our added support as the deadline draws near.”

“At least tell me that you’re positive, sir,” Troi beseeched him.

“Of course I am,” he replied. “Data and Geordi are very strong individuals. I, as their captain, must retain my poise in this situation, for their sake. They are still my officers, and I must sustain them during this trial…” He paused and sighed grimly. “And for what may happen afterwards. Excuse me.” 

Riker and Troi looked at the captain confusedly as he stood up from the table and walked over to the children.

Sophie immediately stood up as Picard knelt in front of her. She clutched her new doll as he spoke. “Sophie, I want to thank you for inviting me to your party. It was indeed a lovely evening.”

Sophie glanced at her fathers, who were still at the bar, and she caught Data’s nod. She turned back to the captain and replied, “Merci de venir à mon parti. Passez une agréable soirée.” She then quickly curtsied.

The captain chuckled with delight, and bowed his head to her, saying, “Très bon. Bonne nuit, mon cher.”

Picard smiled at the engineers and nodded a good night gesture to them as Data beamed proudly.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Geordi sat on the side of Sophie’s bed as she climbed between the purple sheets. “Did we have a great birthday?” he asked as he smiled at her.

She nodded her tired head as she yawned and hugged Pickles at her side. “Guinan made a good cake,” she said.

“She sure did.”

“And…and look what Wes got me!” She grabbed the red kazoo that he had replicated for her from her night stand and blew really hard into it, the shrillness of it making Geordi wince. She giggled as he gently took it away.

“Yeah,” he said, grimly. “I’ll have to thank him for that later.”

Sophie yawned again and whispered, “Thank you for my magnifier glass, Daddy.”

Geordi grinned. “You’re welcome, honey.” He had caught her many times playing with Data’s magnifying glass that he had used in the holodeck, so Geordi decided that she needed her own. It was a big glass with a brass handle, and it came with its own black velour pouch with a drawstring. It was now resting under her pillow.

“Sophie?” 

They both looked to see Data standing in her doorway, his hands behind his back. “I do not believe that you have opened all of your presents.” He stepped to her bed as Geordi stood up and went to lean on the wall to watch them.

He smiled at them as Data sat on the bed and brought around his right arm, which clutched the perfectly wrapped purple box that had been in Geordi’s closet. 

Sophie gave him a big smile as he set it on her lap, and she carefully untied the white bow and let it fall. She was not very kind to the paper, however, and tore into it eagerly, but tenderly opened the brown box underneath. 

There was more purple paper inside and Data reached in and delicately pulled it all away from a small ceramic box that was bright blue and had an oval mother-of-pearl inlay on the top. He twisted the silver key underneath it as Sophie put her hands in the paper that was crumpled in her lap.

“Open it, Daddy,” she whispered.

Data grinned as he lifted the lid and inside was a white ceramic kitten that was standing on its tiny haunches and swatting at a blue butterfly. It slowly turned on a small circle as gentle music began to play.

Geordi’s eyes started to burn, but he sniffed to hold back the tears because he recognized the tune.

It was Chopin’s Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2. 

He remembered Sophie was only nine months old when they had brought her aboard the Enterprise, and she had had difficulty sleeping, so he and Data would try and lull her into slumber using different methods. A bottle wouldn’t work, and playing with her toys only made her more restless.

One night, Geordi tossed and turned as Sophie’s crying echoed from her room. He moved his arm to nudge Data, saying, “Baby…it’s your turn.”

He quickly put on his VISOR when there was no answer, but then he heard music coming from her room. He quietly walked across the den and spotted the source. 

Data was standing beside her crib and was playing this particular tune on his classical guitar, and Sophie’s crying soon calmed and she was looking up at him with tired eyes as she snuggled against her blanket. 

He would continue to play it for her every night until falling asleep was no longer an issue.

Sophie’s smile grew wider and she looked lovingly at Data. “I know this song." she said, happily. 

The music stopped and he placed it on her night stand just before she threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“You are welcome, my love,” he said as he embraced her. 

“Daddy?” she whispered in a dismal tone.

“Yes, Sophie?”

“Is something bad going to happen to us?”

Data pulled away slowly from her and looked at her concerned expression before turning to look at his husband.

Geordi hugged his own arms as he frowned and looked away.

Data turned back to their daughter and lightly kissed her forehead. “We do not know,” he whispered to her. “However, we are going to see Aunt Deanna in two days. There is something we need to discuss." 

“Am…am I in trouble?” she whimpered.

“Oh, no, little one. Not in the slightest,” Data soothed her, stroking her cheek. “You must not worry about it now because you require rest.” 

He gently laid her down and brought the sheet to her chin. She hugged Pickles to her chest. “Can we play it again…please?” she asked, her tired eyes looking up at him as they had once before from her crib.

“Of course,” he murmured, picking up the music box and turning the key at the bottom of it before lifting the lid.

Geordi walked away from her bedroom as the music played again and took a deep breath. He knew she could sense something was wrong. Troi had warned them about it, and he knew that they all needed to converse with Sophie about the impending results of what she was going to face, whether those results would be in their favor or not.

He turned back to her bedroom so he could kiss her goodnight, and found that Data had taken off his shoes and had climbed onto the bed and was sitting on the other side of her with Spot curled up at his feet.

Geordi walked over to that side of the bed and stroked Data’s hair. The android looked up at him with despondent golden eyes, and he suddenly lay on his side to face Sophie’s sleeping body, placing his arm around her. 

He climbed in beside his husband and lay on his back to stare at the ceiling as the music drifted softly through the room before finally fading to an abrupt stop.


End file.
